Still Surprises Me

• May 21, 2018

Recently I had storm damage to my roof. My insurance company reviewed the damage and they are willing to pay to replace, not repair my roof. Now some of may be thinking that was what surprised me. Well, it did somewhat, because the service I received from the insurance company was outstanding. But what surprised me came when I was getting bids from contractors.

I did some research and my decision was to replace my old shingle roof with a metal roof. I was committed to getting a metal roof. So, I got bids from two contractors specializing in metal roofs and two who did shingle roofs. Actually I made 8 phone calls and only four contractors even called me back. Two metal roof salespeople came to my house. They were trained in “kitchen table” selling. They wanted my wife to be with me during the presentation. They wanted to know the color we wanted – assumptive selling – before we agreed to price. They both did their presentations on laptops and both BASHED their competition. I guess both salespeople were trying to do a one call close. Well, that one call was not enough for us to sign any deal. First issue was that although I was convinced I wanted a metal roof and I told both reps I WANTED a metal roof, that the cost of metal over shingles was $9,000. That’s a lot of money. Here come the surprises.

Neither metal roof guy during the presentation said or did anything to convince me metal roof was better, that the additional investment would be a wise choice, etc. BIGGEST surprise – I DID NOT HEAR BACK FROM EITHER METAL GUY! This was a $20,000 job. I assume the commission would have been significant. Most likely, with follow up at all, answering some of my questions would have made me happy enough to sign a contract for a new metal roof. The contractor installing my new SHINGLE roof will be here next week.

It still surprises me. One follow up phone call to a customer who told you they WANTED your product and you can close a $20,000 deal. I suppose someone has answers to this situation, however I simply don’t get it.

I may change my occupation form being an executive coach to selling metal roofs – I’ll probably be the #1 rep in the USA.